LCROSS Was a Success!

[masterjedijared]

I watched the feed this morning and I'm really excited.  I'm posting not because of the actual mission itself but rather the public reaction.<div>
</div><div>Seriously, this is one of the most important space missions of the past twenty years only to be eclipsed by the Mars Rover and the Int'l Space Station project.  While Obama is calling for a review of public investiture of NASA this mission is so far a resounding success.  However, the general public is, once again to my astonishment, a blathering mass of morons.  Cries of "it wasn't flashy enough" and "the feed was too choppy" fill not only Twitter at the moment but also BBC and other news sources critique NASA on the same things!  Action?  Excitement?  If this is all our society and civilization can quammer over then I really don't regret hating humanity.  I watched with wide-eyed wonder as NASA was talking about and showing the mission.  After it was all done I was ecstatic.  I later look to see other folks' reactions only to be utterly disgusted.</div><div>
</div><div>Humans are apparently competing to show they are the most worthless aspect of the universe.</div><div>
</div><div>/rant over</div>

 

[Renek]

/agree<div>
</div><div>I woke up early on Friday morning to watch and it was awesome! I of course later read about how it was boring, people couldn't understand what was going on, etc...People are stupid. For reals. Copernicus was ridiculed for thinking the universe didn't revolve around the earth. I get the feelings he would receive a similar reaction today....</div>

 

[.SPiNE]

Too many people watch science fiction and believe that we can achieve the same level of excitement in reality.<div>
</div><div>Yea, that's bout it.</div>

 

[Tryden]

I don't think the reaction was that apathetic. Maybe the sources I read gave it kinder coverage, but it seemed at least to be making the rounds and getting prominent play in media outlets.

But I agree with you Jared, that in the U.S. at least, the space program has taken a backseat in terms of public excitement. I personally am a huge follower of global space progress, probably largely due to the fact my sister is an aerospace engineer. I know the latest NASA planetary mission (can't remember name) had the fewest names contributed (I think 60k?) on it, whereas the previous mission had over 100k.

But on the other hand, NASA is a publicly-funded endevour, and we have to scrutinize any public institution, especially one that's had as many management problems as NASA.

Sure, maybe excitement about space here is dying down, but it's alive and well in countries like China and India, which are developing new rockets, pushing forward with their manned-space programs, and are generally driven in a national mindset to modernize and drive forward. That kind of mindset is kind of long past, for now, in the U.S. and Russia. But at least here we a lot of private-industry jumping onboard with developing space technology. Which other countries don't really have yet. So that has the possibility to capture the public's imagination again. I think Burt Rutan did it pretty well with Space Ship One, and I think he'll do it again when his partnership with Virgin takes off.

All in all, yes, a lot of apathy, and it's sad, but on the other hand, a pretty bright future for space technology, and, *knock on wood*, space travel.

 

[FROOZ!]

Lord Tryden said:

I don't think the reaction was that apathetic. Maybe the sources I read gave it kinder coverage, but it seemed at least to be making the rounds and getting prominent play in media outlets.

But I agree with you Jared, that in the U.S. at least, the space program has taken a backseat in terms of public excitement. I personally am a huge follower of global space progress, probably largely due to the fact my sister is an aerospace engineer. I know the latest NASA planetary mission (can't remember name) had the fewest names contributed (I think 60k?) on it, whereas the previous mission had over 100k.

But on the other hand, NASA is a publicly-funded endevour, and we have to scrutinize any public institution, especially one that's had as many management problems as NASA.

Sure, maybe excitement about space here is dying down, but it's alive and well in countries like China and India, which are developing new rockets, pushing forward with their manned-space programs, and are generally driven in a national mindset to modernize and drive forward. That kind of mindset is kind of long past, for now, in the U.S. and Russia. But at least here we a lot of private-industry jumping onboard with developing space technology. Which other countries don't really have yet. So that has the possibility to capture the public's imagination again. I think Burt Rutan did it pretty well with Space Ship One, and I think he'll do it again when his partnership with Virgin takes off.

All in all, yes, a lot of apathy, and it's sad, but on the other hand, a pretty bright future for space technology, and, *knock on wood*, space travel.

As far as space travel excitement goes, when I heard that water was found on the moon and mars I told my boyfriend that we could have kids after all, and then went and wrote fan girl short stories about space colonization. I am totally there.
And yet, all I saw on the news today was some sort of car chase where the cops refused to stop the guy. And Obama's windfall. (Granted, I was only walking past the tv when I saw this, but that's all the tv exposure I get.)